Churchkey

Metro thinks we’re still in August, so I may as well finish catching up from summer. My July visit to Churchkey (1337 14th Street NW) is kind of a blur. It was a hot day, and my brain melted as the afternoon dragged on. Probably Churchkey’s beers didn’t help, but I remember enough to know we really enjoyed the experience. Their website is basically a placeholder and their facebook page has only marginally more info, but thanks to their sister restaurant Birch & Barley (which is downstairs, Churchkey is up), I can look up what we ate and drank.

We liked DC Brau’s “The Corruption”. But they change their menu so often, whatever else we had has been lost to the sands (hops?) of time. Some kind of cask ale from Heavy Seas was consumed, I’m pretty sure. Also something slightly naughty-sounding, like the Corruption but different. And a bunch of us had Lagunitas‘ Little Sumpin’ Wild with dinner, loved it. Anyway, all good, and the guys behind the bar were all superfriendly and full of explanation about the overwhelming selection — not as many beers as the Brickskeller, but they’re all in stock, and they’re all really good, so an overall big win for Churchkey. I also like how you can order either 4oz or a full glass of anything, and prices are not unreasonable. If I lived closer to Logan Circle, I would spend far too much time at Churchkey.

Oh, the food: solid, but nothing special. The mac & cheese sticks were okay, fries were pretty good, I’ve forgotten what else we had. Nothing bad, indeed a fine array of drinking-accompaniment snacks, but not as excellent or excellent-value as the beer. Friends who have been to Birch & Barley like the food there; I think there is minimal upstairs-downstairs overlap foodwise.